Zenith Bank PLC, Nigeria’s second largest bank by asset base said its net profit for the third quarter of the year fell by 33.5% when compared to its last year performance.
Gross earnings fell from NGN336 billion last year to NGN165 billion. This is a huge difference and it shows how tough Nigeria’s economic situation has affected the bank.
Interest and similar income for the quarter also fell from NGN256 billion last year to NGN104 billion this year. From a nine months view, Zenith Bank PLC has tried to cut down its impairment loss drastically.
Nine months ago, impairment charges was NGN21,8billion. This has been reduced in the third quarter to NGN7,6 billion.
Revenue from fees and commission fell from NGN54,5 billion. Within the first nine months of the year, the bank’s revenue from fees and commission was NGN46,2 billion. This is a big contrast when compared to GTBank and Wema who recorded growth on fees driven by digital money transfers and other charges.
The bank disclosed that its non performing loan ratio (NPL) has increased to 2.2 % from 1.6 % disclosed last year. Zenith Bank PLC and FBN Holdings (Nigeria’s largest financial services group) are exposed to the oil sector, the crash in global oil prices has affected payment plans of debtors in the sector.
Capital adequacy ratio has also declined from 21% last year to 19.0 in the third quarter.
